Grillagh Water House by Patrick Bradley

Yesterday I had the pleasure of visiting Grillagh House, the stunning shipping container home created by Patrick Bradley Architects in Northern Ireland. The weather was horrendous so please excuse the dark photos, which do not do this amazing, light-filled property justice!

As a testament to how well this unusual home fits in to its surrounding in the locally-named area of Pixies’ Paradise, I drove up and down the road (tourist style) and only spotted it on my third trip. From the road, it looks like a piece of exquisite sculpture, right at home within the woodland setting.

The home is 1,236sq.ft. and deceptively spacious, thanks to all the light, expansive landscape views and incredibly well thought-out design. Unlike most shipping container builds, Patrick did not originally chose to work with old shipping containers. Rather, he started with the design and overcame arising financial challenges by selecting containers as the most cost-efficient building material. The building is made up primarily of four 45ft shipping containers, although this is not evident inside. The unique home sounds it would be a contradictory addition to the family farm and homestead but Grillagh Water House is anything but. Where possible, Patrick and his local build team used materials that were common in the area, albeit common to agricultural buildings as well as homes.
Patrick and his build were featured by the Grand Designs television show for Channel 4 and this episode is the most watched in the pragramme’s history, ultimately winning a BAFTA for the show.

Grillagh House is, without exception, the most strikingly-well designed home I have been in over the past decade of house-hunting in Ireland. If you have not yet seen the Grand Designs episode featuring this build, I can definitely recommend that you watch it now. Spectacular!